The Trials and Tribulations of a Duelist
by Tails9095
Summary: Follow the story of Kaji Sumaro, a below rank duelist who stumbles into the strangest Duel Monsters tournament. The more he plays, the more is unraveled.
1. Incoming Duelist Kaji Sumaro

**The Trials and Tribulations of a Duelist**

**by Tails9095**

**CHAPTER 1: Incoming Duelist - Kaji Sumaro**

"Duel!" A pair of voices shouted from either end of the dark room they stood in. Then lights emitted from their duel disks, illuminating the room they where in. This revealed silhouettes of the crowd who was watching them. The smell of excitement filled the air, and not far from the two was a huge banner. The banner read 'Duel Monsters Tournament Today!' it explained the duel that the two were playing in. But more importantly, the machines had just exposed the two whom had just shouted out.

One was Katsuo Osimaru, a duelist who was known all around Japan for his famous tournament winnings and unbeatable strategies. He was tall, always seen sporting a Black suit with his greasy gelled brown hair. His personality was one of a fighter, he was bold and always ready to fight, though his fights weren't always for good. The Osimaru family is part of a rich and powerful lifestyle, they were rich. They made their fortunes in a very dishonest way. They would buy and sell rare Duel Monster cards on the black market, which is why Katsuo would always have the best cards available to him. Cheers would fill the air at just the sound of his name, he was always with a group of fans who would loyally follow him like sheep. The card he was best known for using and winning with was the almighty Chaos Quad Beast, a creature of unimaginable power! It was an urban legend that if he played his creature, he would automatically win in just under three turns; because no one has ever lasted that long when it hit the field.

His opponent was Kaji Sumaro, a duelist who was relatively new to the game. But he was really willing to learn and play the game as hard as he could. But compared to Katsuo, he was literally no one. Physically Kaji was much shorter than Katsuo, wearing an old blue windbreaker and jeans. His black hair wasn't jelled like his counterpart. It the hung down, almost over his eyes, in a natural spiky way. Unlike his opponent, he was shy and peaceful by nature. The Kaji family wasn't necessarily poor, but he never really had much money to spend on the Duel Monster card game. Besides, his best card wasn't really worth talking about... His deck needed a lot more maintenance before it would be any good.

"I'll start this duel by summoning my Battle Clown (3, 1200/300) in attack mode!" Kaji called to his opponent, a clown in green camouflage appeared into the air between the two duelists. The horrible vanilla creature struck a pathetic battle pose directed Katsuo. There was a cruel laugh in the crowd directed at the monster and the duelist who played it. This led to an embarrassed Kaji call out to his opponent "That's my turn"

"Battle Clown?" Katsuo shouted with a wicked smile on his face. He crossed his arms around the duel disk as he had to make sure that was really the move. "I can't believe anyone would actually run a card like that! How bad of a rookie are you?" Katsuo mumbled just loud enough for the crowd to hear. This resulted in a laugh through the crowd for a second time. "Looks like I'm going to have to wipe that thing of the face of the planet! Go Armageddon's Soul! (4 1800/1400)" He called out to Kaji as a small black sphere appeared.

"Armageddon's Soul? I've never heard of that card before!" Kaji admitted as he watched the creature fly around the field. But he knew even the most elegant Duel Monsters had a painful effect.

"Yes! Now my monster! Go!" Katsuo commanded as the sphere flew up into the face of the clown. "I will activate Armageddon's Soul's hidden power! It takes control of your Battle Clown for my entire battle phase! Then when the battle phase ends, your clown is automatically destroyed!" He explained as the soul flew into the clown's face, who in turn, turned around to stare down at Kaji.

"That's crazy! How can you do that? That's so powerful..." He trailed off, watching his only defense get lost to a once living creature. Then clown pulled out a dagger, waiting for an order from his new master which came with the shout "Attack!" and it lunged for Kaji. This was followed with Kaji shouting in pain as his life points dropped 1200 points. But the attack wasn't over! Then the clown exploded in a shatter of glass as Armageddon's Soul appeared. It then flew for Kaji, hitting him with a painful 1800 ATK. The pained boy's life points dropped down to **5000**.

"I'll be nice and end my turn for now!" Katsuo told him with a small chuckle at the boy's pain.

"That was nice of him" A girl in the crowd called out, it was quickly met with a bunch of 'Yeas and uh-huhs'. This upset Kaji because he knew that Katsuo was just messing with him, like a cat playing with a helpless mouse.

"Fine then, I will just set a monster in defense and one card face down" Kaji explained nervously, staring down at his duel disk as the two cards appeared to the field. A short and uncertain move that was immediately noticed by his opponent.

"I bet... your trying to bluff me... correct?" The man in the suit shouted as he drew his card and started his turn and scanned his hand. "I will summon my Holy Swordsman! (4 2000/0) With this monster on the field, I can pay half my life points to attack with it twice!"

"Another powerful effect monster that he controls, I can't do anything to stop that..." Kaji told himself, his hands trembling in fear. The only reason he didn't just give up was because his face-down monster would save him... But at that thought, Katsuo pointed his finger at the face down monster that Kaji was banking on.

"Now! Armageddon's Soul! Take control of his face down monster!" He commanded as the Soul disappeared under the card. The card then appeared on the opposite side of the field.

"Wait? If can take control of face down monsters?" Kaji was becoming hysterical by how badly he was about to lose to his opponent.

"Yes, and now with your... Hippopotamus Guard...? (4 0/2000) not blocking you I can finish you off!" Katsuo announced as he looked down at the monster that Kaji was using to stay alive for the turn. "Now my monsters! Attack his life points directly!" He announced, the Hippopotamus led a small charge directly at Kaji. Then the hippo exploded and the Soul whacked Kaji with a second 1800 attack. This pushed Kaji back a few feet. Then, they were followed by the Holy Swordsman who slashed at Kaji and took his life points down to **1200**. This dropped Kaji down to the floor.

"At least that's not the game... I still have another turn to attack" Kaji told himself with a weak smile, standing up weakly. "Are you finished with your turn?" He asked.

"Do you just not listen?" Katsuo called coldly at the smaller duelist with a raised eyebrow. He lifted his arm and pointed to his swordsman "I will activate my Holy creature's special ability. It allows for him to attack again with just a small cost of half my life points" His points dropped from **8000 **down to a lower **4000** amount.

"Oh... Darn..." Kaji mumbled to himself as he backed away slowly, the monster ran at him with it's sword drawn. It slashed at Kaji and took him down to **0 **life points.

The crowd cheered as Kaji dropped to his knees in defeat, a small trail of smoke coming from his duel disk. Katsuo walked towards the kneeling opponent, staring down at him with a pair of green eyes. They were met by a pair of blue ones looking up. "Good luck in the tournament, but I don't think you will get far..." He told the new duelist coldly, then turned and walked off from the practice match to his cheering fans.

Kaji was now sitting dully in the food court of the Duel Monsters stadium, glancing around to the different things the stadium offered. It was built much like an American Football stadium, a large open area in the middle for duelists to duel as the entire circling area was for a crowd. Behind the stands where halls filled with either food or card vendors. The thought of this led him to feel around in his pocket for any money that he could use to buy some cards and improve his deck. But he was sadly disappointed, completely broke. He looked down at his watch to see that he had just an hour before the tournament would start. So he then decided to just spend the next hour walking around. As he did, he found himself drawn to a large card shop. As he wandered in, he started to explore through the rows and rows of packs. But then he had noticed a spiky haired person approach him from behind the counter.

"Why hello there!" The person called as he walked up to Kaji cheerfully "Seeing your interest in the packs I think it's safe to assume your a duelist?"

"Yes, I duel" He replied, glancing over at the older figure, the guy was about 25-26 years old. The strange thing was guy had huge spiky haircut that was a mix of three different colors; purple, black and blonde. "I just don't have enough money in my life for cards"

"I can help you if you want..." The kind guy offered, stopping as he waited to learn the young duelist's name

"Oh! It's Kaji Sumaro" He answered with a small bow to the taller figure.

"Alright, just let me see your deck" He asked, walking behind the counter. The counter was a giant glass case filled with rare and expensive Duel Monster cards. Behind the counter was a wall of shelves, the shelves were crammed full of binders from different sets. They were set up chronologically. Personally, Kaji didn't envy the one who had to organize the store.

"Thank you!" Kaji responded cheerfully, pulling his deck out and handed it to the guy. He took it and started to quickly flip through the cards. As he inspected the deck he gave out small chuckles at the card choices. When he finished he plopped the deck onto the counter and turned back to the wall. He pulled out one binder, flipping through it and pulled out a bunch of cards. Then he moved to another binder and then another. It took only a few minutes, but the kind duelist was able to create an entire deck from scratch.

"Alright, the deck is based on stalling your opponent and burning them of their precious life points" He explained as he showed Kaji the cards and how to use them.

"W-what do you want me to do to pay you back?" Kaji replied, awkwardly staring at the deck in his new friend's hand.

"Well... " He asked, taking the stack that was Kaji's old deck "How about, I give you that deck for these? It sounds like a good deal!" He was obliviously ripping himself off to be nice to his friend.

"Deal!" Kaji replied joyfully as he took the deck, putting it into his deck box on his belt. He smiled and bowed again to the kind duelist. Kaji then turned to leave until he heard the employee call him back.

"Wait! I almost forgot the key card for the deck" He called to Kaji as he reached down udner the counter for a small box. He pulled it out and placed it down onto the counter and opened it. Inside was a single card, pretty important too because the box was lined with some sort of silk-like fabric.

"What card is it?" Kaji asked as he stared at the card, not recognizing it.

"This is a very rare and powerful card" The worker explained as he pulled it out and handed it over tenderly. Kaji glanced down at the card and read the name of the card that he just received

"White Magician Pikeru..." He whispered, the card gave off a strange pink aurora when he took possession of it. He tried to figure out what the light was coming from until he was distracted by a small beep from the intercom. The first round pairings were being put up! "I have to go!"was turning and started to leave "Wait- I just realized I never got your name" He called, half turning back to the counter, halfway out of the store.

"Oh! It's Yugi! Yugi Muto!" He called with a small smile as Kaji quickly left the store. Then he put the box away and walked out from behind the counter. As he started to restock one of the packs they were running low on a small thought crossed through his head "Well... He _must_ be new..." he told himself with another small laugh. "But, he won't be so new after today... that, I am sure of..."

**To Be Continued...**

**In the next chapter of The Trials and Tribulations of a Duelist:**

The first round of the tournament is about to begin! But wait, who am I playing?

Kaji Sumaro VS. Katsuo Osimaru!

What? I have to duel him in the first? Well let's just hope this Yugi guy is any good at making decks. And on a side note, what's with that strange card and the mysterious light?

It's all in the next chapter:

**Chapter 2: Unforeseen Circumstances**

Cya next time!


	2. Unforeseen Circumstances

**The Trials and Tribulations of a Duelist**

**by Tails9095**

**Chapter 2: Unforeseen Circumstances**

An announcer's voice spoke out over the intercom, it was parleying a simply message to the duelists. "Duelists! Please make your way to the dueling arena, then find your first round opponent." The voice explained cheerfully, the excited crowd followed the instructions. Then the voice came back on, it told them a side message. "Now may I remind duelists, that there is a fifteen minute time limit to make it to your opponent. If you don't make it to your designated dueling platform, you are automatically disqualified!"

"Who would be late to their game?" Kaji Sumaro asked with a small chuckle, walking out into the dueling arena. He paused for a moment, taking in a deep breathe before telling himself "Well this is it Kaji. Try your best!"

"Talking to yourself makes you sound crazy, you know that right?" Questioned a familiar and annoying voice. The insult was followed by a familiar laughter from the crowd of fans who usually flocked around Katsuo. This was the one who pushed past him, giving Kaji a smug smile. Though this upset Kaji, he found it was best to forget the cruel words of others and forgive. Truly a very merciful look on life. He then moved into the huge arena, finding himself surrounded by hundreds of duelists. Then he turned his glare up, above the crowds, to a huge line of televisions that displayed the dueling match ups.

"Kaji... Kaji..." He mumbled to himself, turning a full circle looking for his name on the televisions. "Kaji Sumaro!" Kaji called happily, finally finding his name. "I duel... Good... God..."

**Round 1: Kaji Sumaro Vs Katsuo Osimaru!**

Kaji's draw dropped in disbelieve, what were the odds he would have to play this person in the first round? "Well, it looks like I'm getting a free pass this round" Called an obnoxious and happy Katsuo. He and his crowd laughed at his insult. "Well, let's get this over with..." He told Kaji, turning to the doomed duelist.

"Alright, fine. Now... Where do we go?" Kaji asked, his face flushing as he smiled. He glanced around, trying to find where they would be playing.

"Wow. You really are a newb..." Katsuo told him with a sigh, his crowd departed to watch from the sidelines. "Just. Follow me." Katsuo walked them through the duelists who were finding their opponents. After a few moments, the concrete ground below them lit up in a bright red light. These lights formed lines all around the huge platform, moving around where the players stood. The lights formed giant rectangles around the duelists, where they would have to stand and play. Then inside these rectangles, more lights appeared and names appeared. These names were for the people who would play in those platforms.

Kaji found himself being led to the center of the entire ring, why? He didn't really know at first. This was followed with the floor under them starting to shake. It seemed like a earthquake, but it was much too controlled. In reality, the floor just below Kaji and Katsuo was rising, it went about six feet higher than the other players. "What's... what's going on?" Kaji called to his opponent.

"I am the favorite in the tournament today, and they like to give their favorites a featured match!" Katsuo explained with a small chuckle at his rival's confusion. Then when the arena of people found their places, the floor all around them started to shake again. This time, next to each duelist rose a small podium that held their weapon of choice: a Duel Disk. Kaji picked up said duel disk, slipping it onto his wrist, watching as the other duelists followed his motions. Then the battleground was filled with loud shooting noises, each duel disks had shot off a pair of holographic projectors. They set themselves up at the corner of each rectangle, shooting a beam of light into the air. Then the machine gave off an acknowledgment noise, Kaji had entered in his deck. This noise then echoed throughout the stadium, the rest of them following his actions.

"Greetings one and all to today's tournament!" The cheery voice called from nowhere, yet it echoed everywhere. It went on to explain that the duelists had a half-hour to complete their duels. Then as soon as the duel was over, the computer would enter the results into the database. The voice told them all to have good luck and have fun. Then it came.

"DUEL!" The shout came like a sonic boom, hundreds of duelists all shouted this out at once. This signaled the official start of the tournament.

"It's just you and me, all over again!" Katsuo called with a smile, drawing into his first hand, starting off the duel. "I will start by summoning _Angel's Meteor,_ (4 1800/700) in attack made!" Katsuo called, a huge fiery meteor appeared onto the field, but it was sporting a small pair of angel wings. The card seemed like just a huge oxymoron. "Then I will follow that up by setting one card face down, and ending my turn."

"Alright... Let's see what this what this baby can do..." Kaji told himself as he drew his card. He glanced down at his hand, examining all six of the cards. One of them caught his eye and he decided his move "I will set one card face down" A card appeared on the field "Then two cards face down" two spells/traps appeared too.

"Going on the defensive already Kaji?" Katsuo mocked as he drew his card "Last time it took you at least TWO turns before you did that" His moves were much faster and precise from years of experience. "I will summon _Brick Smasher_ (4 2000/0) in attack mode!" A karate master appeared onto the field, a pile of broken bricks at his feet. "Then I will flip my face down card up, I activate the spell _Incredible Rush_! This card allows me to attack with each of my monsters as many times as possible as long as I pay 1000 life points for each attack I make this turn" He explained to the duelist who obviously didn't know the effect. At the same time, his two monsters started to pump themselves up for the huge attack they were about to go through.

"Well that doesn't seem fair..." Kaji replied, watching as his opponent went to smash him into the ground.

"Nothing in life is fair" Katsuo responded as he pointed to the face down monster that Kaji controlled "Now! _Angel's Meteor_ attack his face down monster! Oh! And if you didn't know, _Angel's Meteor_ does damage to my opponent equal to the difference in his attack and your monster's defense!" Katsuo's life points dropped down to **7000**

"Assuming the attack goes through" Kaji responded with a small grin on his face as he watched the attack start. The Meteor flew up up up and away! It disappeared into the sky. There was a pause... Then a HUGE red meteorite was flying straight down at Kaji's monster. "Activate trap card!" Kaji announced as the monster quickly approached. "I activate Imp's Fire!"

"Imp's Fire?" Katsuo shouted as the meteorite, that was moments away from obliterating Kaji's monster, disappeared. "How did you get a card that powerful?" Katsuo called as the meteorite reappeared in front of it's master and exploded. As the card says, Katsuo's monster is destroyed from Imp's Fire and he takes damage equal to the monster's attack. While Kaji takes double, but his face down monster stays protected. Life points **4800 **to **5200**.

"Let's just say... It was from a friend" Kaji responded with a small smile. Realizing that he actually did damage to this so called unbeatable opponent. He could even win...

"Well no matter, I attack with my _Brick Smasher_!" Katsuo announced as the monster prepared it's attack by picking up a brick. **4200**

"Wrong. I activate my other face down card! _Holy Alliance_!" Kaji then proceeded to explain how the card worked "Well for every monster on the field, I can special summon a new one to the field. You do get to do it too. But it does automatically ends your battle phase."

"Another rare card... How did he get so many...?" Katsuo questioned, he started to special summon monsters. "I bring out my _Warrior of Fire _(3 1200/1400) and _Aqua Boxer _(4 1500/1000)" Katsuo's monsters then appeared, one as a Warrior with a flaming sword. The other was a giant pair of fists, made out of water.

"My monsters will be _Kamikaze Healer_ (2 500/500) and _Greedy Totem Pole _(1 100/100)" Kaji's monsters appeared onto the field. One was a monster, laced with dynamite but holding a medic pack. The other, a giant Totem pole who's different sections would randomly turn a 360 degree angle and back to it's starting spot.

"Is that all you have? A bunch of weaklings?" Katsuo laughed out loud at the horrible difference between the two sides of monsters. One was a wall of giant crazy attacking monsters, the other was filled with pathetic, tiny, useless monsters, in Katsuo's opinion that is.

"I would not take them so lightly" Kaji replied as he reached down to draw his next card. But as soon as he touched the top of the deck, it started to glow a pinkish light. "Hmmm?" He asked himself, drawing his card. "_It's that card again, White Magician Pikeru..."_ he thought as he stared at the card _"Why is this card acting so weird...? Is there something wrong with it? Maybe it's radioactive..."_

_"Actually none of the above..." _Came a voice, it's origin could only have been from inside the card.

"_What the hell was that?" _ Sumaro thought, holding the card out away from him. In response to his question, the card started to glow a darker pink than it had the time before it. The next thing that happened would've made an average person pass out, but Kaji's determination to win kept him conscious. The card had started to shift around in his hand, an object had started to come out of it. I repeat. An object had started to come out of it! It looked at first like a scapegoat, then he realized that it was part of a much larger...thing. The rest of what he found out was a head, came with it.

_"Hello there!"_ The head called cheerfully to him, smiling up at her owner. She shifted herself and started to pull the rest of herself out of the card. When she got out she stopped, then reached back in, feeling around. After a moment of searching, she pulls out her white staff. She proceeded to hop off the card and floated up into the air. Now they were now staring at each other, about only an arms length away.

_"Who, or what are you?" _Kaji asked nervously, the person landed onto her two feet and stood. When standing straight up, she reached only about to his waist in height.

_"Who do you think?" _She asked back with a smile, her hand holding the staff lightly _"I did come out of the card... But just in case you forgot. The name is Piker-"_

"HELLO?" Came a shout from the other side of the dueling ring, cutting her off. An extremely frustrated looking Katsuo was standing there, watching Kaji move around like a crazy person. "Are you going to make a move at ANY time this year?" He shouted harshly, stomping the ground impatiently.

_"I don't really think I like him very much Kaji..." _Pikeru mumbled, looking up at him. She walked over so she was standing next to him, her fingers gripping the staff she kept with her.

_"No... I don't either. Wait, how do you know my name? Eh, never mind"_ He replied with a mental sigh, glancing down at his hand again. Then his face brightened up as he read one of his monster's effects. "I will activate _Greedy Totem Pole's _special effect!" Kaji called, three of the five levels of the totem poles proceeded to point to the three monsters that Katsuo controlled.

"Right... _Greedy Totem Pole's_ effect..."Katsuo said, watching the totem's actions. He didn't say anything, but from the look on his face, he obviously couldn't remember the card's effect.

"I'll help you out, mister 'pro'" Kaji mocked his opponent with a smug smile. Then he announced the effect of his monster "It deals 300 damage to you for each monster you control." He explained, the totem then shot three blasts at Katsuo. The three all passed the monsters and hit Katsuo directed, they all did 300 damage each. "But, sadly, greed comes at a price..." He told his opponent, his life were draining 300 for every monster that he controlled. Kaji and Katsuo's life points were now at **4100 4200**,respectively. Kaji moved his hand to grab Pikeru's card. He glanced down at the duel spirit, their eyes met and they nodded "I will summon _White Magician Pikeru! _(2 1200/0)" Kaji announced loudly as he threw the card onto the duel disk.

"_White Magician Pikeru_?" Katsuo shouted as there was a flash of light as the card appeared on the field between them. When she hit the field, she was standing in her full form. Her outfit was white, her hair was pink. Her scapegoat hat and cape were both a lemon yellow. "That card hasn't been played in a duel for years! It's so rare..." Katsuo exclaimed, the small monster smiled as she gripped her staff, feeling herself ready to fight.

"That's not it! I will play another card that's a blast from the past!" Kaji announced, he reached for another card from his hand. Then he slid it into the spell zone, announcing the card's name proudly. "I activate Swords of Revealing Light!" Bright white swords began to rain from the sky, locking the creatures Katsuo controlled down. There was a gasp from Katsuo's fans as this card hit the field.

"How the hell...?" Katsuo growled as he drew for his turn. He quickly scanned his cards, choosing one of them and played it. "I activate _Unfair Trial_! I can discard one card from my hand" He explained as a card in his hand went to the graveyard. "Now that Totem you control is automatically destroyed!"

"I see, you didn't want to lose any more damage..." Kaji mumbled as he watched his creature. His totem toppled down to the ground, then it shattered. "That was very wise of you... Too bad you chose the wrong card..." He drew into his next turn, glancing down at it. Then he looked back up to a confused looking opponent.

"What do you mean by that? How did I choose wrong?" Katsuo asked quizzically as he watched his opponent's field

"Unlike the totem that would've burned you to death, I will now use the effect of my _White Magician Pikeru!_" Kaji announced to his opponent. Pikeru raised her staff into, Kaji's life points increased by 400 for every creature he controlled. His total amount went up to **4900**.

"800 life points? That really doesn't bother me..." Katsuo told Kaji, rolling his eyes slightly. He didn't know where this was going.

"I'll just set a monster face down and and another card face down to end my turn" Kaji told him, the turn going by quickly.

Katsuo drew into his next card and froze. He stared at his draw, then looked up at his Kaji's and giving out a short laugh. "I've just sealed your fate Kaji Sumaro!" He announced cruelly, then he playing a card: _Magical Disarm_. This spell card quickly robbed Kaji of his Sword's of Revealing light, his only defense from the upcoming onslaught. But then it went from bad to worse, the three creatures Katsuo controlled: _Brick Smasher_, _Warrior of Fire_ and _Aqua Boxer_ disappeared.

"What just happened?" Kaji asked, a light and dark also disappeared from Katsuo's grave. There was a loud cheer from the crowd, and from the surrounding duelists. "What... what am I missing?" He wanted to know, not liking where this was going.

"I sacrifice three creatures of three separate attributes off the field!" Katsuo explained as the monsters went out of play. His voice had a tad bit of hysteria in it. "Along with a light and a dark creature from my graveyard!" They followed the other three lost souls. "With these tributes, I will summon a monster that will assure my victory!" Osimaru laughed crazily. "I will now summon that which is death." Osimaru called before going on. "I summon that which is a curse to all of mankind." His voice was now becoming more and more dark with every passing word. "I summon:" He shouted out, then he and his entire fan crowd shouted out the monster's name. "**Go!** **_Chaos Quad Beast – Bringer of the Apocalypse!_**"

The sky above them started to darken, a lightning bolt flashed. The earth started to shake the entire Colosseum, a huge crack appearing between the two duelists. The ground opened as a pair of huge pair of red eyes appeared out of the ground. They turned to the direction of Kaji and Pikeru, this led to him letting out a soft laugh "He's not so intimidating" Kaji said. This was followed by the rest of the beast's head. It was that of a Giant bird, but the entire thing was blood red. Kaji's jaw dropped as this thing came out. The size of the head was enormous, by far the largest hologram he's ever seen. He and the monster's eyes met for a moment. '_Still not as big as everyone sa-" _He started to think, but was cut off.

When the neck pulled itself out, and three more heads followed. The second head was a giant blue serpent. The creature let out a hiss as it joined the bird's head in the air. Following the snake, came a huge brown deer's head. It looked innocent enough, but looks can be deceiving. Not to be outmatched, a fourth head erupted from the hole in the earth. It let out a tremendous roar, it was a white lion's head. All four heads matched in sizes equally, they all stared down their opponent. The body pulled itself out of the hole, it was a the body of a giant dog. All four heads were connected to the now visible black body. The creature stomped the ground and the heads all let out a roar to the heavens.

"You where saying?" Katsuo asked with a grin on his face, watching Kaji's reaction.

"I... I did not know it was that big..." Was all he was able to say, his voice cutting off in obvious fear. Pikeru started to shake, she was showing a human like emotion. "Looks like this duel is just starting..."

"No Kaji!" Katsuo shouted, the beast now standing above him. "This duel is over!"

**To Be Continued...**

**In the next chapter of The Trials and Tribulations of a Duelist:**

That thing is **huge**! How am I ever going to take that thing down by myself? Could this be the end of me in the tournament already? I can't lost like this!

Wait, why was a hologram trembling?

Find out more in the exciting conclusion of the duel in:

**Chapter 3: The Four-Headed Horror**

Cya next time!


	3. The FourHeaded Horror

**The Trials and Tribulations of a Duelist**

**by Tails9095**

**Chapter 3: The Four-Headed Horror**

Field Count: Kaji Osimaru has three monsters on the field and one card face down. Katsuo, at the moment, has only 1 monster on the field.

The Chaos Quad Beast, a four-headed creature, stared down at their new opponent. It had the head of a lion, a serpent, a deer and a bird. It's body was one of a huge black dog. The animal pawed at the ground as each head took a different approach to the situation. The three of the heads looked ready to fight, but the fourth, the deer, looked more like it was trying to get away. "I pity you, I truly do. So I will do something I don't usually do," a cocky Katsuo Osimaru called to the young novice Kaji Sumaro. "I will inform you of the Chaos Quad Beast's special abilities," Katsuo started to explain the monster's stats and effects:

Chaos Quad Beast – Bringer of the Apocalypse

Beast/0/0/0 Stars/X Attribute

This card can only be Special Summoned by removing 1 WATER, 1 EARTH and 1 FIRE on your side of the field, and 1 LIGHT and 1 DARK monster in your Graveyard from play. When this monster is Special Summoned, send this and all card in your hand and field out of play. Then Special Summon a "Lion of Nemea-head (6/3000/3000)" Token, a "Hydra of the Swamps-head (3/1000/1000)" Token, a "

Cerynitis of the Mountains-head (2/200/200)" Token, a "Stymphalian Bird of the Lake-head (4/1500/800)" Token, and a "Cerberus of the Underworld-body (5/2500/2000)" Token. The turn this creature hits the field, you may not activate any monster effects or Declare an attack. While this card is out of play, you do not draw during your draw phase.

"So this is the rumored Five Trials of the Beast," Replied a nervous Kaji, cheers could be heard from the crowd. "and I also know you are holding out on me" He knew that there was way more to the card than that. Each token has it's own effect and he would slowly find out what they did. Hopefully sooner than later. This is because of the rumors that as soon as this creature would hit the field, Katsuo would win in only three short turns.

"Well, I do believe it is your turn," Said a smiling Katsuo as he pushed his hand into the 'out of play zone'. The holograms started to project the horrible smell emanating from the gigantic creature as it watched it's owner.

"Fine! I don't care how big or powerful your card is! I will defeat it!" Kaji shouted triumphantly as he drew into his card. _"I hope" _He glanced down at his hand and then up at his opponent. "I will activate the effect of my _White Magician Pikeru_!" Pikeru raised her staff into, Kaji's life points increased by 400 for every creature he controlled. His total amount went up to **6100**.

"Alright, that card is becoming a thorn in my side..." Katsuo exclaimed coldly as he stared at the small magic caster. Then he slammed his fist into his palm and said "I'll be sure it doesn't last the turn. I promise you that!"

"Fine. If you want to play that game, I will play _Decree of the Free_!" Osimaru then played a spell card that appeared onto the field. "This spell allows me to choose the target of my opponent's attacks!" Then Kaji realized something and announced it to his opponent "You forgot that you left two of your monsters wide open for an attack!" Then Kaji pointed to the giant serpent "_White Magician Pikeru _attack his _Hydra of the Swamps_!" Then his spell caster raised her staff and pointed it into the air. She unleashed a blast of pink magic into the water creature, the attack hit dead on, and the creature's head pretty much exploded. Katsuo's life points drained down to **3900**. "What do you have to say about that!?" Shouted Kaji happily as he watched his opponent.

"Let me ask you something... Do you like snakes?" Questioned the elder duelist, the stump that once held the Hydra started to shake. Then another head of the Hydra appeared on the neck, but it wasn't alone. There were now two Hydra heads instead of one, the both stared down at the frightened duelist. "Well then, how do you like that?"

"Wait! The heads can multiply!?" Shouted Kaji as he watched the pair of heads act like one. The now five-headed creature waited to start fighting.

"More or less. Actually only the Hydra head can multiply. I will tell you the cards effect" Katsuo then started to explain the monsters abilities:

Hydra of the Swamps

Serpent/1000/1000/3 Stars/Water

When this card is sent to the Graveyard, Special Summon this card onto the field, along with a 'Hydra of the Swamps token' that is a clone of "Hydra of the Swamps". This token does not count towards the 5 monster limit.

"So that means..." Kaji started to say, then was cut off by Katsuo.

"That means that I can have an unlimited amount of creatures at my disposal" Katsuo told his opponent as he started his turn. "Now it's time to start activating effects!" He called as his beast let out a defining roar as it started. "First, I will activate the special ability of _Stymphalian Birds of the Lake_"

Stymphalian Birds of the Lake

Winged Beast/1500/800/4 Stars/Fire

Once during your turn, you may inflict 1000 points of damage to your opponent's Life Points. This card cannot declare an attack.

"Go my birds!" Shouted a Katsuo gleefully as the sky above the two duelists turned dark. From the dark came a single bird. But after a moment, the bird was followed by a second, then a third. Soon Kaji was surrounded as they flew in to peck at him painfully. Once they cleared, Kaji's lifepoints drained down to **5100**."Painful? I hope so, but it's only the beginning-"

"You monster" Kaji growled as he held his arm from a peck wound.

"No, that would be him" Katsuo responded and pointed straight up at the Chaos Quad Beast, it acknowledged his master's words with a defying roars. "Not to forget, I will now activate another effect of my monster. Go body of Cerberus!"

Cerberus of the Underworld

Beast/2500/2000/5 Stars/Dark

Once during your turn, you may destroy 1 card on your opponent's side of the field. This card cannot declare an attack.

"Remember that _Decree of the Free_ you needed to protect you? Well, watch this!" Katsuo told him with a laugh, the creature tilted up onto three legs as one went into the air. It paused for a few moments before slamming down onto the ground with a huge 'BOOM'" This created a crack in the air, it went straight for Kaji's face-up spell. The spell fell down into the crack and shattered. This seemed to be Kaji's last defense.

"This can't end well..." Kaji mumbled, his head dropped slightly as he looked up into the air. He watched the monster as it prepared for a strike.

"Now, let's take out that creature you were relying on so greatly" Katsuo told his opponent as he pointed at _White Magician Pikeru _"I will attack your Pikeru with my _Lion of Nemea_!" The lion head stared down at the small magician, she looked up to meet the creature's eyes. On her way to meet it's gaze she fell back from looking up.

Lion of Nemea

Beast/4000/4000/6 stars/Light

This card cannot attack unless you Tribute 1 monster on your side of the field.

When this card attacks with an ATK higher than the DEF of your opponent's Defense Position monster, inflict the difference as Battle Damage to your opponent's Life Points. Any damage this card does in battle is resolved as Effect Damage. At the start of your turn, You may also pay all of your life points down to 100 and it gets the following effect: This monster may attack your opponent's life points directly. If this effect is activated, you must automatically go to your battle phase and to this monster's attack. Then after this monster attacks you must end your turn.

"The lion requires a tribute of one of my monsters to attack this turn" The controller of the beast explained to Kaji, the lion turned and violently ripped off one of the Hydra heads. A gasp echoed through the crowed, the attack was so sudden and horrible. After consuming the head it had the energy to attack. Along with the death of a head, the stump that once held a snake, then split and two more heads erupted in it's spot.

"Oh god. That's right, he can do that" mumbled a shocked Kaji as the lion flew down to strike Pikeru. The lion seemed to slow, everything seemed to have come full circle for Kaji _"That's right... I forgot about you..."_ He thought to himself, glancing down at one of his monsters, then smiled. "I will activate my monster's special effect!" Announced the now happy duelist "_Kamikaze Soldier!_ Activate your special power!" Kaji then proceeded to explain the monster's effect. "My creature's power is the following: for sacrificing my monster out of play, then I am able to save my Pikeru from the attack and end your battle phase!" The combat medic appeared from the nowhere place he was hiding and jumped out to get blasted instead of Pikeru. The pink monster bowed her head for a moment in respect.

"That's lucky of you" mumbled Katsuo as his turn ended over to Kaji. Then he raised his fist into the air, then extended three fingers and smiled."Well that's one turn down. Two turns to go" He told Katsuo, one of the three fingers fell.

"Luck is as luck does" Responded a smiling Kaji, then drew his card. Then he looked down at his field, Pikeru and a face-down sat on the field. Also there was a face-down card on his field. "I will activate my _White Magician Pikeru's_ special effect!" He announced as his monster raised her wand once again, his life points increased to **5900**. _"This hand doesn't help me... I have to go into defense" _He thought to himself, his monster raised her staff to block herself. He set another spell/trap as his turn ended.

"My my my, is that _all _you can do?" Katsuo asked with a laugh and started to activate his effects again, the birds beginning to flock again. Kaji raised his hands as he was swarmed again by the birds. His life went down to **4900** as he fell to his knees.

"D-damn... that's painful..." He mumbled, even thought they were holograms, it hurt. He glanced down at one of the wounds on his arm, was this real? How can virtual birds hurt me so bad? He found himself standing back up, then he was cut off, his opponent continued.

"Now, Cerberus, destroy his face-down!" Commanded Katsuo as the monster raised it's leg into the air again. After a moment it slammed it's forepaw into the ground again, destroying Kaji's face-down creature. So, the only monster that separated Kaji and Katsuo, was _White Magician Pikeru_. "Now,_ Lion of Nemea, _I shall tribute another head of Hydra for you." The audience gasped again, the cannibal lion went on to consume another head of the Hydra. This was followed by the creation of two new heads. The number of Hydra heads was up to four. The lion roared as it flew down at Kaji's creature. Kaji looked away as the lion took out the defending Pikeru, he couldn't bear to watch. Then his life drained down to a messily **900**.

"It had trample..." Muttered Kaji as he fell to his knees once again. With the Hydra heads, that would be game... Could he win...?

"Well Kaji Osimaru, it's been fun, but now it's time to end this" Katsuo called as he pointed at the weakened duelist "_Hydra of the Swamps! _All of you, attack and finish this game!" announced Katsuo cheerfully as the snakes flew at Kaji. "That's game Kaji"

"NOT YET!" Shouted Kaji as he stood and raised his arm into the air, a trap activating. "I will activate _Last Charge of the Samurai_!" The trap started to glow pink as Pikeru reappeared onto the field, her staff had changed to a samurai sword and she stood ready to fight. "_Last Charge of the Samurai_ can only be activated if I have less than 1000 life points. It allows me to choose a monster on my graveyard and bring it back to the field. Then I double the monster's attack points for the turn. After that, I am able to make a charged attack to as many of your monsters as I want!" He called happily, Pikeru charged. She sliced upwards and slash one of the Hydra heads, letting it copy itself as Katsuo's life dropped down to **2500**

"Very nice. I commend you on your wise tactic... But the game is going to end." Katsuo cut in, his eyes closed as he said these words. Then when Pikeru went in for another attack, the head that hadn't moved before activated. The deer head flew out and took the attack that Pikeru gave out, it didn't even flinch. Pikeru went to attack another Hydra, the deer blocked again.

"Why can't I finish you off?" Kaji growled, his hands balled into fists. "What is that deer's power?"

"It's actually quite powerful, despite it's small and weak appearance. But you, of all people, should know that the weakest monsters have the best abilities." Katsuo explained as the effect listed off:

Cerynitis of the Mountains

Beast/200/200/2 Stars/Earth

Each time a monster on your opponent's side of the field attacks a monster on your side of the field and you have "Cerynitis" face-up on the field, you can change the attack target to "Cerynitis".

This monster is not destroyed as a result of battle at any time, and damage calculation is not applied.

"What? That means" Kaji said weakly as Pikeru's sword turned back to a staff as Katsuo's turn started to end.

"Your attack is null and void, now, as I said before" He told Kaji as his fist went back into the air. But this time, instead of three fingers, only two came up. Then one of them dropped, leaving a single finger. "Two down Kaji, this is your last turn" The cocky player explained as Kai's turn came.

"Now, let's pull myself out of this hole..." Kaji told himself, Pikeru's effect raising his life points to **1300. **He looked down at his deck and took a small sigh, can he do this? Then something odd happened, the deck started to glow again. That hasn't happened since he drew... He pulled the next card out of his deck and stared at it, he was right. "I set one card face down..." He said gloomily as his turn passed.

"Then that means, I win" Katsuo called as his arm raised to the air "I will activate my _Lion of Nemea_'s special ability! For the cost of all my life points down to 100, I go to my battle phase and the Lion attacks. But for this hefty cost, I get to attack you directly!" Explained the winning duelist, his life dropping to **100**.

"Then it's over, for real this time?" Asked Kaji, Pikeru looked down as the duel was about to finish. A cheer echoed through the crowed as the Lion attacked.

" _Lion of Nemea! _Attack Kaji directly!" the lion was flew right at Kai. Then Kaji froze as something in his memory stood out, it was from the Lion's effect: 'Any damage this card does in battle is resolved as Effect Damage.'. Does that mean? Of course, he can use it!

"Katsuo!" Kaji shouted, moving to activate another card "Your attempt to finish me off has failed, again. Your own greed with be the end of you!"

"What are you talking about?" Katsuo growled as he watched Kaji's actions.

"Activate trap card _Pikeru's Circle of Enchantment_" Kaji shouted as his hand rose to the air, Pikeru stood and raised her staff. She smiled and started to move the staff ahead of her, he quickly drew out a symbol in the air. The symbol made the lion freeze in it's place, it completely blocked the Lion's attack on Kaji's life.

"You... You lucky son of a-" Katsuo shouted in anger, his hands balled into fists. "How dare you trick me!?"

"I'm not the one who told you to activate the lions effect, was I? Hey look, it's my forth turn" Kaji chuckled as he drew. The crowd let out a small laugh too. Though no one said anything, it was assumed that it seems like Kaji would now win this. "Now, let's finish him off..." He mumbled and looked at the card he drew. As soon as he did, he stopped then he looked back up to Katsuo. Another memory flashed through his mind as he thought about something Yugi said before this duel.

-Flashback mode-

"Deal!" Kaji replied joyfully as he took the deck, putting it into his deck box on his belt. He smiled and bowed again to the kind duelist. Kaji then turned to leave until he heard the employee call him back.

"Wait! I almost forgot the key card for the deck" He called to Kaji as he reached down udner the counter for a small box. He pulled it out and placed it down onto the counter and opened it. Inside was a single card, pretty important too because the box was lined with some sort of silk-like fabric.

"What card is it?" Kaji asked as he stared at the card, not recognizing it.

"This is a very rare and powerful card" The worker explained as he pulled it out and handed it over tenderly. Kaji glanced down at the card and read the name of the card that he just received

"White Magician Pikeru..." He whispered, the card gave off a strange pink aurora when he took possession of it.

-Flashback mode ends-

"So, this is what you meant Yugi. Thank you." He said to himself, noticing Pikeru side glancing him from the dueling platform. He looked up at his duel spirit made real, then they nodded at each other.

"What are you planning?" Katsuo asked, watching his opponent very carefully.

"I'm planning on winning this game..." Kaji replied, smiling as he held out the card he just drew. "You know Katsuo, life is full of choices. You make choices as do I make choices, but rarely do duel monsters ever make choices. But Pikeru is more than a duel monster, so I will activate the spell _Pikeru's Choice_!_"_

"_Pikeru's Choice?_" The duelists mumbled as he took a step back, afraid of what the card might do. He didn't know that this card had so many other supports.

Pikeru's Choice

Quick-play Spell

This card can only be activated if a monster with 'Pikeru' in it's name is on your side of the field. Any life-points gained from a monster with 'Pikeru' on your side of the field can be negated and your opponent takes damage equal to the amount you would have gained.

"Then that means..." Katsuo mumbled, his hands raised in a defensive stance, getting ready to take the inevitable.

"That means, I win" announced Kaji, raising his fist into the air triumphantly. Pikeru raised her staff into the air, her outfit started to turn from white to a dark gray. Her staff turned to that of dark magic. Her eyes then went blood red as she charged Katsuo and the beast. She jumped into the air, jumping so high she was looking down on the Quad Beast. She pointed the staff downwards and blasted Kaji's opponent and his chaos monster with a dark spell. The Chaos Quad Beast let out a roar as soon as it was hit, then it it shattered. At the same time, Katsuo's life dropped to _0_. Pikeru then fell from the sky and landed on the ground. Just as quickly as her outfit changed, it changed back. She glanced around curiously for a moment, curious of what just happened. Then she disappeared when the Holographic projectors turned off. The audience was silent for a few moments, watching how this duel just finished so shockingly. Then there was a huge roar of excitement from the crowd, cheering for the underdog. The champion glared up at his opponent, pure hatred in those eyes. Kaji was soon swarmed by the crowd. It was the group that was supporting Katsuo just a few moments ago. Kaji could hear people congratulating him on a job well done and 'dethroning' the cocky professional. Then one person in particular walked right in front of him.

"Can we see it?" asked the duelist, he seemed to be the same age as Kaji.

"See what?" Kaji asked back curiously as he looked back to the duelist.

" _The Chaos Quad Beast_" the guy replied, now looking at him suspiciously. "You... did take it right?"

"Was I supposed to?" Kaji said in a confused tone, glancing around at the other people as an annoyed sigh passed through the crowd.

"You obviously don't know the rules." The person mumbled then explained what he was talking about. "When you beat a duelist, not only are they out of the tournament, you get to take their rarest card."

"What?" His jaw dropped as he stood on his tip-toes to look for Katsuo, but he was gone. Katsuo realized that Kaji didn't know the rules and bailed before he lost that monster from his deck.

"Pfft. Loser" This remark went through the crowd as it quickly dispersed. They obviously didn't care who beat who, they just cared about who held the card...

_"At least we won..." _Pikeru muttered, the duel spirit was now back at his side.

"I guess that's something to be glad about..." Kaji replied with a small sigh and walked off.

As soon as the round was over, the duelists had a half-hour intermission for different things. At the same time, the duelists who last in the previous round had either left or joined the audience to watch. Kaji decided to go talk to go talk to Yugi before the next round. While they walked, Pikeru noticed Kaji had an odd expression.

_"Something wrong?"_ Pikeru asked as they walked through the halls _"You seem to have something on your mind..."_

"No, I was just wondering" Kaji replied, glancing down at the spirit as they walked. "If I lose any duel today, wouldn't they take your card? You are the rarest card in my deck. If this happened, what would happen to your spirit?"

_"I was wondering the same thing..."_ She replied, looping her hands back behind her head and glancing at the ceiling above her. _"I decided it would be best not to think about it."_

"But, the only way for me not to lose you, is to win the tournament." He responded as he looked forward also, they weren't far from Yugi's card store.

_"Then we just won't lose" _Pikeru stated with a small smile, glancing up at him _"We'll win the tournament!"_

"I hope so..." Kaji replied, then after a moment he smiled himself "Yea. We will win"

Kaji entered the store to find Yugi behind the counter, reading a magazine. His face was hidden, but his hair was clearly visible. "I watched your match" Called Yugi from behind the publication. "Congratulations"

"Thanks" Kaji replied with a smile as he scratched the back of his head. "Yugi, I wanted to know if you would-"

"I know exactly what your going to say" Yugi cut him off, holding his hand out for the deck. Kaji then gently placed it in the creator's palm. "I'll be right back" After that, he disappeared in the back room.

_"What were you asking?" _Pikeru asked, glancing up at him with a confused look.

"Just, fixing the deck" Kaji replied with a smile, Yugi then returned.

"All done Kaji. I added in all the appropriate things" Yugi told him with a grin, giving the deck back to Kaji,

"Thank you. Yugi" Kaji told him with a bow.

"It's no problem, really. Just don't lose, I couldn't replace that Pikeru" Yugi told him with a wink. Then the announcer's voice came through the speaker. Announcing the pairings for round 2.

"I won't!" Kaji called, turning to run off. A new round, a new opponent but also another chance to lost.

**To Be Continued...**

**In the next chapter of The Trials and Tribulations of a Duelist:**

With Yugi working on my deck, I should be able to dominate, I hope.

Now it's round 2! It's another chance to prove i'm not some lucky scrub!

But whose my next opponent? He's an insect duelist? Well that shouldn't be to hard... right?

**Chapter 4: The Force of the Spider's Web**

Cya next time!


End file.
